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Back The Guardian of Lies Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. CHAPTER ONE
  4. CHAPTER TWO
  5. CHAPTER THREE
  6. CHAPTER FOUR
  7. CHAPTER FIVE
  8. CHAPTER SIX
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT
  11. CHAPTER NINE
  12. CHAPTER TEN
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE
  15. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  16. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  18. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  20. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  21. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  22. CHAPTER TWENTY
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  32. CHAPTER THIRTY
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  42. CHAPTER FORTY
  43. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  52. Acknowledgements
  53. ‘The Survivors’ Ad
  54. ‘The Betrayal’ Ad
  55. ‘The Liberation’ Ad
  56. Copyright

How the hell did he know that? I looked around me quickly but I could see no one taking any interest in me. I made no comment.

The voice continued calmly. ‘Remain where you are.’

‘What are you planning to do? He is in danger and needs—’

The line went dead.

My finger shook as I dialled the number again. And again. And again.

No answer. I stood there. Like a fool. Minute after minute ticked past before I realised the quiet voice was not going to ring me back. Nor was he coming to get me. Remain where you are, he said. Not to keep me safe. To keep me out of the way.

I pulled the hood of the cape tight over my head and forced my legs to start running for the door.

CHAPTER FOUR

‘Where is he?’

‘Who?’

I leaned over the old man in the hospital bed, so he would see me clearly, see what lay in my eyes. He was all bones and thin wisps of hair. ‘The patient who was in the next bed,’ I said. ‘He has gone.’

‘Yes, they took him.’

‘Who took him? Nurses?’

‘Two orderlies. In white coats.’

‘How? In a wheelchair?’

‘No, my dear, on a trolley.’

‘What did the orderlies look like?’

The thin bones shrugged under the sheet. ‘Ordinary men, brown hair, ordinary nose, mouth and eyes. Nothing to remember.’ His papery face creased into a smile.

‘Did they speak?’

‘To the man in the bed, yes.’

‘Did they speak in French?’

‘Yes. But in low voices. My old ears aren’t as good as they used to be. Shouldn’t you be in bed, young lady? You look worse than I feel.’

I conjured up a smile and stuck it on my face. ‘I’m okay, thanks. Did the man in the bed go willingly?’

‘Oh, yes.’

Air rushed out of me with relief. I stepped over to the empty bed and I placed my hand on the pillow, where my brother’s damaged head had lain, seeking even a trace of him, the faintest echo. I had made an unforgivable mistake. I had turned right instead of left. And now he was paying for it. I laid my head on the pillow and waited.

*

When they came I was seated on a chair at the old man’s bedside, reading to him from Le Monde newspaper. An article about our latest victory in the Indochina War in Vietnam. News of a victory always went down well, especially when the government was in a frantic tail-spin.